However, I have spent that time being somewhat productive. The next Sir Edric story (not quite as big as the others but still perhaps twice a novella in size) has been written, to the extent of finishing the first few drafts. Beta readers are currently mauling it into a shape suitable for human consumption. I don't anticipate it being released this year, but fairly early next year, though it's hard to be certain.

However, there will be some festive Sir Edric news, so watch this space in December.

Just a quick status update. Right now, Crown of Blood (the third entry in The Bloody Crown Trilogy) is in the very initial stages of being beta-read. Essentially, this means an external pair (or pairs) of eyes gives it a going over to see what works and what doesn't from a reader's perspective.

After that, any necessary changes will be made, then it's just a case of the final proofread of doom, and the text is finished. Very hard to try and predict a timetable now, and it'll certainly be months before it's ready.

Elsewhere, I'm working on outlines for a couple of Sir Edric novels and the ongoing adventures of Wandering Phoenix and Roaming Tiger.

I'm still working on Crown of Blood. The meat of the story is done, but I'm thinking of adding a little to the start (I cut away some of the original stuff but adding a little on similar lines may work) and rejigging the end a little (think I've finally resolved how things should go).

In the meantime, the recently released Sir Edric and the Plague is well worth a look. On the writing front, I'm also the writer of this year's Kraxon serial, a 12 part story of 1,000 words per instalment. My story, The Purple Demon, tells the tale of what happens to Ba Renzhong after the events in the first three episodes of Wandering Phoenix and Roaming Tiger. It's also entirely free to read.

For the future, once Crown of Blood is released, I'll probably focus my writing on a mix of Wandering Phoenix and Roaming Tiger, and Sir Edric's assorted nonsense.

As the title cunningly conveys, the latest episode in Sir Edric's litany of drunken escapades has been released for public consumption. The eponymous knight finds himself infected with foul pestilence and forced to seek out the fabled Tears of Shal-Marrikash to save himself. And a city full of elves, although that's very much incidental.

Aided by his trusty manservant Dog, Sir Edric will have to contend with fantastical monster, lunatic sorcerers and, most deadly of all, elven treachery.

SIr Edric and the Plague is currently just 99p, and available at Amazon and Smashwords (will come out at more places shortly). The price will rise on Monday so grab your copy whilst they're hot (and discounted).

The Last City, a new sci-fi anthology of short stories, one of which is by me, has just come out. The stories all focus on the City, an asteroid-mining settlement and the dominant economic power in a distant solar system. Its governance is a weird sort of corporate feudalism, and the stories range from the glittering heights of the presidential family to the grime of the lowest part of society.

The Purple Demon, Ba Renzhong, returns in a new serial for Kraxon magazine. It'll be a 12 parter, coming out monthly, and is free. The first portion of this delicious Chinese serial can be enjoyed here.

In other returning news, The Adventures of Sir Edric, which had been on brief hiatus due to rights transferring back to me, are back up on Amazon. To celebrate the knight's return, it's currently just 99p, which isn't bad for very well-rated comedy. Not yet put up the Smashwords (and other channels) edition yet, but I'll get around to that in the next few days.

Also, don't forget to check out Tales of Knights and Nitwits, the new comic that's both written (huzzah!) and drawn (blargle) by me. It's free, and comes out weekly (with every fourth week off so I can keep up).

As I've said, there are two larger works in the oven. Sir Edric and the Plague is a completed fantasy-comedy novel, and Crown of Bloody is the final instalment in The Bloody Crown Trilogy. I'd prefer to release the trilogy's final part first, but I'm still writing it and if it looks like it'll take too long I'll publish Plague in the meantime.

Been working on a few different things over the past month or two. One of them is a small project related to the Wandering Phoenix and Roaming Tiger serial, but it's under wraps for the time being.

Some time ago I wrote a comic, using graphics from an RPG Maker (sadly defunct now). As I've started drawing as a hobby I thought it'd be fun and interesting to try and update it, but drawing the pictures myself. Which has proved quite challenging (not unlike videogames, my enthusiasm overshadows my competence when it comes to drawing). Anyway, I'll definitely do a few episodes of that and see how it goes (as much from a time perspective as anything else, drawing the first episode took me a lot longer than expected). I might wait until I've completed the first three episodes before posting that. At the moment, I'm thinking of a title like Knights and Knitwits.

As far as Crown of Blood, the final part of The Bloody Crown Trilogy, goes, there's a watershed some way in. Before then, I want to do some tidying up, cutting some unnecessary characters and sharpening things generally. After that, I need to decide how a specific plot twist goes (you'll know it when you read it). Too far out to give an ETA on a release date but I'm still hoping for the first half of next year.

Beyond that, I'll probably focus on Sir Edric/Wandering Phoenix, because those are both the most fun and quickest to write.

Both services are designed to be done after all the editorial/creative work is complete. They’re finishing touches (albeit time-consuming ones) to text that’s effectively finished. The proofreading is simply about finding and correcting/deleting grammatical and spelling errors, and formatting gets the document in shape to be submitted to an e-book self-publisher (like Amazon KDP or Smashwords), or to a hard copy self-publisher (like Lulu or CreateSpace).

Pricing will vary, and there’s a delicious 30% discount for a limit period to encourage new clients, but a ‘standard’ novel text might have fees of around £50-60 for e-book formatting and £200-240 for a full proofread. Details about pricing and discounts (also available for return customers and double service) are provided on the website.

From a writing perspective, the next major thing I’ll be working on will be Crown of Blood, the trilogy’s final part. After that, I’ll mostly be looking at Sir Edric and the ongoing adventures of Liu and Guan in Wandering Phoenix and Roaming Tiger.​Thaddeus.

With Sir Edric's Kingdom out tomorrow (links and details here), I thought it'd be timely to provide a general update on how various things stand, approximate time frames for later works and so on.

The next novel I'll release will be Crown of Blood, the sequel to Traitor's Prize and final part of the trilogy. I'm hoping to get that done in the first half of 2018, but it's hard to be sure. I need to cut certain characters from the current draft and the final 20% needs major work. However, the basic structure of the first 80% is solid and just needs polishing.

The Chinese serial Wandering Phoenix and Roaming Tiger will return. Once CoB is done, this will probably be what I work on, perhaps alternating between paid and free episodes. If possible, I want to make the episodes larger than before, certainly for the paid ones. It's also possible that, prior to seeing Liu and Guan again, we'll find out what happened to a certain other character...

The next Sir Edric novel is effectively written already. It does need a cover and proofing. The reason I'm not releasing it immediately (plan to put it out next year, perhaps) is because I'm already publishing novels at a fair rate (three novels in the last 12 months once Sir Edric's Kingdom comes out) and I don't want to overdo it.

It's very likely I'll have a writing-related announcement to make in the near future, but which isn't about new books or the like. In addition, there may well be short stories in anthologies or perhaps the odd free one here.

I wrote Sir Edric's Kingdom about two years ago, so it's a bit strange having that delay. Intrigued to see if people like it or not.

I haven't been updating this blog quite as often as usual but there's a very good reason for that, namely that I've been working hard. And, because of that, my next book, Sir Edric's Kingdom, is out 22 September, just a few months after Traitor's Prize.

It's the latest tale of Sir Edric's assorted misadventures and misdemeanours, as fate thrusts him into the stewardship of the kingdom when King Lawrence is poisoned. Beset on all sides by murderers and monsters, assassins and invasions, he'll need his wits about him. Fortunately, Sir Edric can count on his allies: Dog, the world's trustiest manservant, Orff No-Balsac, the man-eating slaver, Corkwell, Sir Edric's feisty paramour, and the elven enchantress Lysandra. But will Sir Edric be able to keep the kingdom, and himself, in one piece?

It's a cracking tale of daftness and manly heroics, drunkenness and deviousness. It's also just $0.99 until 29 September, so snap it up. Or wait a bit, and give me some more cash. Either's fine.